This invention relates to an apparatus for the crushing of rocks, more specifically to an apparatus of conical construction.
Mechanisms designed to facilitate the automatic crushing of rocks have been the subject of much creative activity by inventors over the years, progressing from the use of simple, hammer-like devices to the current generation of gyrating conical crushers.
Of the latter design there are many machines or apparatuses for crushing rocks described in the patent literature. Examples of such machines or apparatuses are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,881 which issued to K. Werginz, on Jun. 10, 1980, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,814 which issued to K. D. Warren et al on Nov. 20, 1979, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,349 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,348 which issued to L. W. Johnson et al on Apr. 24, 1990.
Inventive activity in this particular field is not, of course, confined solely to the United States as revealed by the patent literature of countries foreign to the United States. For example; Brazil patent number 7,800,884 issued to H. Murata et al on Sep. 19, 1978 and (former) Soviet Union patent Nos. 592,440 issued to V. G. Kravchenko et al on Mar. 28, 1978, 461,740 issued to V. A. Maslennikov on Sep. 10, 1975, 1,620,136 issued to Y. U. V. Gudkov et al on Nov. 05, 1991 and 1,506,106 issued to E. G. Fonbershte et al on Sep. 07, 1989.
All of the above mentioned patents disclose what is essentially an eccentrically mounted conical member rotating within the confines of a cooperating conical concave member such that as the rotation of the eccentrically spinning cone approaches its closest distance to the concave, any rocks introduced between the two members will be crushed.
While the basic operational concept has remained consistent from one conical design to the other, the methods of implementation have varied considerably as in, for example, the method of lubrication and sealing and the facilities developed for clearing and cleaning following a stall or blockage condition.
Not surprisingly, there are occasions, during normal operation, when non-crushable items are inadvertently introduced into the crushing cavity, hence most designs incorporate a clearing mechanism in one form or another which will permit the passage of such items through the system without major damage to the system components.
While it can be said that some designs are more effective than others in the manner in which the above mentioned operational problems are addressed, all designs heretobefore known suffer from the following shortcomings:
(a) the methods of clearing non-crushable items are less effective than desireable;
(b) cavity clearing following stall or overload conditions tend to be time consuming and labour intensive;
(c) the natural tendency to imbalance inherent in the design of a gyrating cone is not always adequately addressed;
(d) conventional devices are usually large and cumbersome;
(e) conventional devices tend to require frequent and difficult maintenance;
(f) adjustment of crusher settings is seldom possible under load; and
(g) problems are frequently encountered in respect to lubrication and sealing of critical components.
Accordingly several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) to provide a cone crusher capable of clearing non-crushable items automatically and effectively;
(b) to provide a cone crusher with instantaneous response to overload conditions and rapid and automatic restoration to original settings following overload;
(c) to provide a cone crusher more readily adaptable to remote control than the prior art devices;
(d) to provide a cone crusher wherein each individual device is capable of optimum balance;
(e) to provide a cone crusher incorporating a relatively simple but effective lubrication and sealing system; and
(f) to provide a cone crusher incorporating efficient cavity clearing facilities thus reducing machine xe2x80x9cdown time.xe2x80x9d
Further objects and advantages are to provide a relatively low maintenance cone crusher. An additional object and advantage is to provide a cone crusher of compact design wherein said crusher is ideal for portable plant mountings or stationary installations where headroom is at a premium. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing drawings and description.